Donald Trump’s decision to back the blockade of Qatar – even as US diplomats have sharply criticised the embargo – follows decades of private business dealings by the US president with the countries leading the charge against the small Gulf nation.
唐纳德·特朗普支持对卡塔尔实施封锁的决定——尽管美国外交官对这一禁运进行了严厉批评——是基于美国总统与对这个小海湾国家发起攻击的国家之间数十年的私人商业往来。
Trump’s financial history with Saudi Arabia, which is leading the blockade, and Saudi ally the United Arab Emirates, includes the purchase of tens of millions of dollars in Trump’s real estate properties by wealthy Saudis over the years. The situation raises questions about whether the president’s personal financial relationships are dictating US policy, rather than his stated claims that he is concerned about Qatar’s alleged link to terror financing.
特朗普与沙特阿拉伯的财务历史，包括主导封锁的沙特阿拉伯及其盟友阿联酋，涉及多年来富有的沙特人购买价值数千万美元的特朗普房地产。这一情况引发了人们的质疑，即总统的个人财务关系是否在主导美国政策，而不是他所声称的对卡塔尔涉嫌恐怖融资的关切。
There is no evidence that Trump has been untruthful about his reasons to support the blockade. But the US State Department and the Pentagon – acutely aware of Qatar’s role hosting thousands of US and US-led coalition forces on a large airbase south-west of Doha – have taken different positions from the White House. A State Department spokeswoman recently said that the Saudi and UAE move against Qatar was “mystifying”.
没有证据表明特朗普在支持封锁的理由上不诚实。但美国国务院和五角大楼——深知卡塔尔在多哈西南的大型空军基地上接待数千名美国及美主导联军部队的角色——与白宫的立场有所不同。国务院发言人最近表示，沙特和阿联酋对卡塔尔的举动是“令人困惑的”。
It is clear that Trump does not have many business connections to Qatar. His son-in-law, Jared Kushner, reportedly sought but failed to entice Qatari investors to help recapitalise a huge investment in a New York property – 666 Fifth Avenue – that is laden with debt.
显然，特朗普与卡塔尔的商业联系并不多。他的女婿贾里德·库什纳据报道曾试图吸引卡塔尔投资者来帮助为一项巨额投资——位于纽约的 666 第五大道——进行再融资，但未能成功，该物业负债累累。
Saudi Arabia, however, has been an important partner to the president. In 1995, when Trump was struggling to make payments on one of his most important New York properties, the landmark Plaza Hotel, it was Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a Saudi prince, who came to his rescue with an investment, which relegated Trump to a minority shareholder in the property. A few years earlier, in 1991, bin Talal bought a huge yacht, the Trump Princess, from creditors at a time when Trump’s other big venture, the Atlantic City casinos, were under pressure.
然而，沙特阿拉伯一直是总统的重要合作伙伴。1995 年，当特朗普在他最重要的纽约物业之一——标志性的广场酒店上苦苦挣扎，无法支付款项时，沙特王子阿尔瓦利德·本·塔拉尔出资相助，使特朗普在该物业中沦为少数股东。几年前的 1991 年，塔拉尔从债权人手中购买了一艘巨大的游艇——特朗普公主号，当时特朗普的另一个大项目，大西洋城赌场，正面临压力。
It does not mean the two have always had a warm relationship. The Saudi prince fired off an angry tweet in June 2016 after then-candidate Trump called for a ban on Muslims entering the country, describing the president as a “disgrace not only to the GOP but to all America”. When Trump won the presidency bin Talal congratulated him.
这并不意味着两人一直保持着良好的关系。2016 年 6 月，沙特王子在特朗普当时的候选人身份下呼吁禁止穆斯林入境后，发了一条愤怒的推文，称总统是“不仅对共和党而且对整个美国的耻辱”。当特朗普赢得总统选举时，宾·塔拉尔向他表示祝贺。
Earlier on the campaign trail, Trump did not hide his appreciation for wealthy Saudis, noting at a rally in Alabama in 2015 that they were frequent buyers of his apartments.
在竞选活动早期，特朗普并没有掩饰他对富有沙特人的欣赏，他在 2015 年阿拉巴马州的一次集会上提到，他们是他公寓的常客。
“They spend $40m, $50m. Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much,” he said.
“他们花费 4000 万美元、5000 万美元。我应该不喜欢他们吗？我非常喜欢他们，”他说。
More recently, the Saudi government invested $20bn in a fund earmarked for US infrastructure, part of a broader policy that has been endorsed by the White House. The fund is being administered by Blackstone, which also has ties to Trump and his family.
最近，沙特政府投资了 200 亿美元用于美国基础设施的基金，这是白宫支持的更广泛政策的一部分。该基金由黑石集团管理，黑石集团与特朗普及其家族也有联系。
A lawsuit brought by two Democratic officials – from the US state of Maryland and the DC – named Saudi Arabia as one of several foreign countries that have made payments to Trump’s businesses in alleged violation of an anti-corruption clause in the US constitution. The lawsuit cites a public relations firm that was hired by Saudi Arabia that has spent $270,000 on rooms and meals at Trump’s DC hotel.
由两名民主党官员提起的诉讼——来自美国马里兰州和华盛顿特区——将沙特阿拉伯列为多个涉嫌违反美国宪法反腐败条款的外国国家之一。诉讼中提到了一家沙特阿拉伯雇佣的公关公司，该公司在特朗普位于华盛顿特区的酒店花费了 27 万美元用于房间和餐饮。
“We know that foreign governments are spending money there in order to curry favour with the president of the United States,” DC attorney general Karl Racine said.
“我们知道外国政府在那里花钱是为了讨好美国总统，”华盛顿特区检察长卡尔·拉辛说。
The White House has dismissed the legal suit as a partisan attack.
白宫已将该法律诉讼视为一场党派攻击。
Dubai has also been an important bright spot for Trump’s business. According to election-related financial disclosures, The Trump Organization, which is run by the president’s son, Donald Jr, has been paid between $2m to $10m for golfing projects in Dubai that bear Trump’s name and are being built by a group called DAMAC Properties, which is owned by a Emirati billionaire named Hussain Sajwani.
迪拜也是特朗普商业的重要亮点。根据与选举相关的财务披露，特朗普集团由总统的儿子唐纳德·特朗普 Jr. 经营，已从名为 DAMAC Properties 的公司获得 200 万到 1000 万美元的报酬，该公司由阿联酋亿万富翁侯赛因·萨贾瓦尼拥有，正在建设以特朗普名字命名的高尔夫项目。
According to an account in the New York Times, Sajwani, who attended Trump’s New Year’s Eve party at Mar-a-Lago, offered to pay Trump an additional $2bn to develop more properties.
根据《纽约时报》的报道，萨贾瓦尼参加了特朗普在马阿拉歌的跨年派对，并提议向特朗普支付额外的 20 亿美元以开发更多物业。
A 16 May post on Sajwani’s Instagram account showed him having a meal with Trump Jr, who Sajwani called his “dear friend and business partner”.
萨贾瓦尼在 5 月 16 日的 Instagram 帖子中显示他与特朗普 Jr. 共进晚餐，萨贾瓦尼称他为“亲爱的朋友和商业伙伴”。
